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The Courage of Children: Boston and Beyond XXXI

Award-winning essays on courage written by sixth-eight grade students participating in The Max Warburg Courage Curriculum.

Award-winning essays on courage written by sixth-eight grade students participating in The Max Warburg Courage Curriculum.

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Shems Hafiani<br />

Sr. Sawsan Mezyan, Teacher<br />

Al-Noor Academy, Mansfield, MA<br />

<strong>The</strong> definition <strong>of</strong> courage varies from person to person based on their<br />

experiences. This can include bravery, helping others that are getting bullied,<br />

or going against stronger opponents even when the odds are against you. To<br />

me, courage has a different meaning: courage means doing what’s morally<br />

correct, even when no one agrees with you. Such an incident happened<br />

when I was ten.<br />

In September <strong>of</strong> 2020, when school started online for many, my school was<br />

also fully online. Most <strong>of</strong> the students had very limited interactions with each<br />

other, so many students made group chats. It seemed like a good idea until<br />

it took a vexatious turn. Several students started to use swears casually <strong>and</strong><br />

nonchalantly, <strong>and</strong> it was uncomfortable. Although this alone was bad, other<br />

group chats that included adult content arose.<br />

“To me, courage<br />

has a different<br />

meaning: courage<br />

means doing what’s<br />

morally correct,<br />

even when no one<br />

agrees with you.”<br />

I got in touch with one <strong>of</strong> these servers, <strong>and</strong> a lot <strong>of</strong> the students started to add<br />

people outside <strong>of</strong> school, such as strangers from the internet, several <strong>of</strong> which<br />

had pr<strong>of</strong>ane names. I knew that the right thing to do was to get a person <strong>of</strong><br />

authority involved, but with the brutality <strong>and</strong> cruelty <strong>of</strong> the students, I was<br />

nervous to do so. I sent it to the principal anyway.<br />

Many <strong>of</strong> the students were aggravated, sending death threats to the principal,<br />

<strong>and</strong> using extreme pr<strong>of</strong>anity against her. Eventually, the principal made<br />

announcements in the school regarding the topic, <strong>and</strong> the majority <strong>of</strong> the<br />

group chats got reported <strong>and</strong> eventually faded away.<br />

Looking back after around one year, I can only imagine what would have<br />

happened if the subject wasn’t brought into the principal’s concern. Would<br />

the students stop with time <strong>and</strong> mature? Would other students get exposed?<br />

Regardless <strong>of</strong> the other possibilities, I’m glad that I told the principal <strong>and</strong> got<br />

the problem fixed.<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Courage</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Children</strong>: <strong>Boston</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Beyond</strong><br />

Volume <strong>XXXI</strong><br />

36 37

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